Die unloader

ABSTRACT

A ram driven, mechanically synchronized die unloader for extending into a blanking press under the upper die of a positive knockout die for receiving and removing the stamped blank from the die.

United States Patent Gilmour et al.

1451 Dec. 12,1972

DIE UNLOADER Inventors: Richard C. Gilmour, Yeadon; Vincent A. Kaitz, Willow Grove, both of Pa.; Adolph W. Lemberger, Cinnaminson, NJ.

Assignee: The Budd Company, Philadelphia,

Filed: 0m. 15, 1970 Appl. No.: 80,854

us. 01. ..83/l12, 83/135, 83/159, 214/1 BB 1n1.c1. ..B26d 7/18 Field of Search ..83/l1l, 112,135, 129, 153, 83/157,l59;214/1BB [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,693,159 11/1954 Taylor ..214/1 BB 3,349,602 10/1967 Nelson ..83/157 X 373,943 11/1887 Parker et al. ..83/157 X 679,699 7/1901 Mason ..83/135 1,170,455 2/1916 Mason ..83/135 1,736,958 11/1929 Whitecar... ..83/135 X 2,122,648 7/1938 Johnson. ..214/1 BB 3,155,241 11/1964 Suofy ..2l4/1 BB Primary Examiner-James M. Meister Attorney-Thomas I. Davenport, Alford L. Trueax, Jr., William R. Nolte and John B. Sowell [5 7 ABSTRACT A ram driven, mechanically synchronized die unloader for extending into a blanking press under the upper die of a positive knockout die for receiving and removing the stamped blank from the die.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHEBIZ I912 3.705.525

SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTORS RICHARD C. GILMOUR Y VINCENT A. KAITZ ADOLPH W- LEMBERG ATTORNEY loading thereof. In such an arrangement, an increment of ram motion causes a corresponding movement of the carriage and does not permit any dwell time under the upper die for receiving the ejected stamping.

An object of this invention is to provide a smoothly operable die unloader that has a substantially motionless dwell within the press during the ejection of the stamped blank.

Another object of this invention is to provide an economical die unloader that has easily and cheaply replaceable components.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent as reference is made to the following specification and drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a side view, with portions broken away, of the novel die unloader mounted on the press frame;

FIG. 2 is a view of FIG. 1 substantially along line 2' 2 in the direction of the arrows.

The die unloader illustrated is provided with duplicate sets of apparatus on the right and left side of the carriage and duplicate members will be used to interchangeably identify duplicate apparatus on the right or left of the die unloader.

Referring now to the drawings, a conventional blanking press 10 includes a frame 12 with a ram 14 mounted therein for reciprocating motion toward and away from the press bed 16. A bolster plate 18 secured to the press bed 16 supports the male lower blanking die 20a and the female upper blanking die 20b and ejector pins 20 are secured to the ram 14 for forming a sheet metal stamped blank 22 therebetween during mating engagement thereof as the ram 14 approaches the press bed 16.

A die unloader, indicated generally by the numeral 24, is mounted on the press frame 12 and operably connected to the ram 14 for synchronized movement thereby.

' An air motor driven adjustment screw 26 is secured to the ram 14 by bearing blocks 28 which permit rotation in place of screw 26. A drive arm 30 has one end threadably engaging adjustment screw 26 for movement therealong as the screw is rotated and the other end is pivotally connected to one end of drag link 32. The other end of the drag link 32 is pivotally connected to one arm 36 of bell crank 34. The other arm 38 of bell crank 34 is pivotally connected to one end of a second drag link 40. A pivotal connection 42 at the juncture of arms 36, 38 of the bell crank 34 connects and supports the'bell crank on a linkage support member 44 connected to the frame 12.

The other end of second drag link 30 is pivotally connected to drive link 46 intermediate the ends thereof. A pivotal connection 48 at one end of link 46 connects and supports the drive link 46 on the linkage support member 44 and the other end of drive link 46 is pivotally connected to one end of connecting link 50. The other end of connecting link 50. is pivotally connected to a track guided carriage 52.

The carriage 52 is supported on a T shaped track 56. The track 56 has one end supported on the frame 12 and the other end is supported by an adjustable leg 58.

The carriage 52 includes two sets of upper rollers 58, 60 and two sets of lower rollers 62, 64 rotatably attached to the carriage body 66. The upper rollers 58, 60 bear on the upper surface of the T track 54 and the lower rollers 62, 64 are directly below rollers 58, 60 and bear'on the lower side of the T track 54, thus supporting and retaining the carriage on the track. Attached to and extending between the left and right carriage bodies 66 is an open box tubular structure 68 for supporting the blank receiving arms 70 attached thereto. A series of adjustment apertures 72 are formed along the arms 70 for adjusting the length needed to reach into the press to remove the blank 22. Vertical adjustment is accomplished by bolt and nut attachment 74 between the carriage and arm. A hook 76 is attached to the end of each arm 70 to contact the blank 22 for removal from between the dies 20a,b.

Proper positioning of the carriage 52 for cooperation with the ram 14 is adjusted by vertical adjustment of the drive arm 30 by rotation of adjustment screw 26. The travel distance of the carriage 52 is easily calculated and adjusted by varying the length of drive link 46, drag link 32 and the linkage support member 44.

In operation, with the ram 14 in the uppermost position, as shown in FIG. 1, after conventional ejector pins 20 have moved the stamped blank 22 from the die 20b, the carriage 52 is adjacent the press 10 and the arms 70 toextend between the dies 20a,b and receive the blank 22 for removal. As the ram 14 descends, the drive arm 30 moves therewith moving the drag link 32 and causing the bell crank 34 to pivot counter-clockwise about pivotal connection 42. Such movement of the bell crank 34 acting through drag link 40 moves drive link 46 counter-clockwise about pivotal connection 48. The counter-clockwise movement of drive link 46 acting through connecting link 40 drives the carriage S2 to the right, as seen in FIG. 1, from the receiving position to the discharge position shown in phantom lines, as the ram 12 brings the dies 20a,b together to form another blank 22 therebetween. The blank 22 is removed from the carriage 52 and the carriage is then ready to be returned between the dies for receiving the next newly formed blank 22 as it is ejected from the die 20b as the ram approaches the top of its stroke.

The linkage of the drag link 32 and bell crank arm 36 provides a non-uniform movement of the carriage 52. The carriage 52 is substantially at rest under the die 20b for approximately 2% inches of movement of the ram 14 on either side of top center. Thus, when the stamped blank 22 is ejected from the die 20b, the carriage 52 is substantially stopped and is held steady for sufiicient time for the blank to settle on the arms 70 for removal from between the dies. The dwell of the carriage 52 while receiving the blank overcomes the problem of constant motion of the sector gear actuated die unloader.

It can also be seen that replacement of links and pivot pins would be much less expensive than replacing rack and sector gear sets when parts of the die unloader become worn.

While but one embodiment of this invention has been shown and explained, it is not intended to be limited by such arrangement but by the prior art and the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A die unloader for forming press having a frame, a die bed, a reciprocating ram, an upper die secured to said ram for movement therewith, a lower die secured to said die bed for cooperatively engaging said upper die to form a stamping at the bottom of the ram stroke and ejector pins for removal of a stamping from said die, said die unloader including a support bracker secured to said frame, a carriage having a receiving position and a discharge position and being movable therebetween linkage means operably interconnecting said ram and said carriage for moving said carriage between said positions during reciprocal movement of said ram, and a track means for supporting and guiding said carriage between said positions, said track means includes a T shaped track having one end supported on said frame and the other end supported on an adjustable member for vertically adjusting the height of one end of said track for proper alignment of said carriage relative to said dies.

2. The die unloader is claimed in claim 1 wherein said carriage includes upper rollers and lower rollers for engaging the respective upper and lower surfaces of said T shaped track cross member.

3. The die unloader as claimed in claim 1 wherein said linkage means includes a bell crank having a first arm and a second arm and a pivotal connection at the juncture of said arms, a support member secured to said frame, said pivotal connection supported on said support member, a first drag link having one end pivotally connected to said first arm and the other end pivotally connected to said ram for pivoting said bell crank about said pivotal connection as said ram reciprocates, a second pivotal connection supported on said support member, a drive link having one end pivotally connected to said carriage for moving said carriage between said positions, and the other end pivotally secured to said second pivotal connection, a second drag link having one end pivotally connected to said second arm of said bell crank and the other end pivotally secured intermediate the ends of said drive link for moving said drive link and said carriage as said bell crank is pivoted by the reciprocal movement of said ram.

4. The die unloader as claimed in claim 3 including a drive arm adjustably secured to said ram for movement therewith, said drive arm having a portion thereof pivotally secured to said other end of first drag link whereby adjustment of said drive arm relative to the ram adjusts the positioning of said carriage relative to the ram.

5. The die unloader as claimed in claim 3 wherein said carriage includes tubular box structure, a plurality of arms adjustably supported on said box structure for entering between said dies as the ram approaches the top of its stroke and for receiving the stamping ejected from said upper die for removal from said press. 

1. A die unloadEr for forming press having a frame, a die bed, a reciprocating ram, an upper die secured to said ram for movement therewith, a lower die secured to said die bed for cooperatively engaging said upper die to form a stamping at the bottom of the ram stroke and ejector pins for removal of a stamping from said die, said die unloader including a support bracker secured to said frame, a carriage having a receiving position and a discharge position and being movable therebetween linkage means operably interconnecting said ram and said carriage for moving said carriage between said positions during reciprocal movement of said ram, and a track means for supporting and guiding said carriage between said positions, said track means includes a T shaped track having one end supported on said frame and the other end supported on an adjustable member for vertically adjusting the height of one end of said track for proper alignment of said carriage relative to said dies.
 2. The die unloader is claimed in claim 1 wherein said carriage includes upper rollers and lower rollers for engaging the respective upper and lower surfaces of said T shaped track cross member.
 3. The die unloader as claimed in claim 1 wherein said linkage means includes a bell crank having a first arm and a second arm and a pivotal connection at the juncture of said arms, a support member secured to said frame, said pivotal connection supported on said support member, a first drag link having one end pivotally connected to said first arm and the other end pivotally connected to said ram for pivoting said bell crank about said pivotal connection as said ram reciprocates, a second pivotal connection supported on said support member, a drive link having one end pivotally connected to said carriage for moving said carriage between said positions, and the other end pivotally secured to said second pivotal connection, a second drag link having one end pivotally connected to said second arm of said bell crank and the other end pivotally secured intermediate the ends of said drive link for moving said drive link and said carriage as said bell crank is pivoted by the reciprocal movement of said ram.
 4. The die unloader as claimed in claim 3 including a drive arm adjustably secured to said ram for movement therewith, said drive arm having a portion thereof pivotally secured to said other end of first drag link whereby adjustment of said drive arm relative to the ram adjusts the positioning of said carriage relative to the ram.
 5. The die unloader as claimed in claim 3 wherein said carriage includes tubular box structure, a plurality of arms adjustably supported on said box structure for entering between said dies as the ram approaches the top of its stroke and for receiving the stamping ejected from said upper die for removal from said press. 